Join This Site

To join this site, ensure you have logged in with your Wikidot Account and click the button below. Enter the password provided in the news files on game into the box on the next page and click the button there, too.

After Jericho's visit the previous evening, Babs has a lot to think about and decides that time out of her tower (no she is /not/ Rapunzel), along with a nice strong cup of tea, might just do the trick. Of course, the thought of tea these days also makes her think of Rowan, so she's asked him to join her at the Coffee Shop just down the road from the Clocktower. Babs has ordered tea for herself and Rowan and some muffins, found a table and got herself situated. Whilst she waits for Rowan to arrive, she's perusing her tablet making sure her systems are working.

***

High in her tower she sits by the hours maintaining her Database. Blithe and becoming and frequently humming a light-hearted ir: 'Oh my god Vorpal what did you do now?'

Keith O'Neil is completely oblivious to the fact that Barbara Gordon, sister in red hair, is none other than the mysterious Oracle. Keith would never have any reason to suspect this- especially since Babs has no visible gray hairs at all.

Unless that hair color comes out of a bottle- no, surely, it doesn't, Barbara Gordon is no Lucille Ball.

Keith arrives, human form and all, wearing his usual turtleneck, jacket and jeans. "One capuccino, please," he says as leans on the counter to place his order. "And a biscotto. If you've got them."

***

Rowan arrives on time, as does he often. He waves to Barbara as he enters and takes the seat next to her, seeing that she's already ordered. "Hello Babs. Nice to see you again. And… have we met?" The Blue's trying to place Keith… something about him seems familiar but of course he's not purple and fuzzy…

"How is everyone?"

***

No Babs doesn't have any grey hairs, no thanks to the Batlings, her young charge and certain members of the Titans. Yes her colour is natural, thank you very much.

Waving as Rowan enters, Babs pours some tea and gives a cup to Rowan. As Keith has entered, Babs has recognised him from news coverage (of course) and she waves to him as he turns and leans against the counter. "I'm well, Rowan. And if you're trying to place the young man over there his name is Keith, or Vorpal. He's a member of the Titans." That's all common knowledge and she doesn't mind sharing.

***

Keith looks at his phone while his order is processed, his Stalkbook status has him checking in at this cafe, his status private only for Titans members only. He's learned his lesson, especially after that group of fangirls ambushed him at that bookstore.

They weren't his fangirls. They were Robin fangirls. They wanted him to get them an autograph.

"Huh?" He looks over his shoulder when his name is mentioned, and he grins. "Why yes… that's me," he says, brow wrinkling a little as he looks at the woman and-

Wait. "Hey, I remember you from the graveyard. You conked me over the head with the spear." No hard feelings, after all it was what he needed to snap out of the delusions caused by the mist. "And I remember you. Miss… Gordon, wasn't it?" he asks Barbara, reaching out to grab his capuccino as it is put on the bar by the barista.

***

Rowan chuckles. "Oh right. I, er did hit you over the head with my spear. Sorry about that. You seemed like you needed it.The Blue takes a sip of the tea and smiles at Babs and looks between the two. "Titans… I've read of them. He's a champion then. Is everything well?"

***

"Yes Miss Gordon, if you insist Keith. But I do believe the last time we met, it was Babs… Remember you made my friend fall of his chair?" Babs smiles at the young man "Will you join us? This is my friend Rowan" Rowans comments elicits a small frown from Babs "You did what to Keith?" Of course, Babs could never know about that incident. "Yes Rowan, a champion. Remind me to show you some articles on the Titans in the media, if I remember rightly, Keith here is trying to improve their public relations."

***

"Oh.. yes. I apologize for that… again." Keith grabs himself a seat at their table. "I wouldn't call myself a'champion.' That makes me sound as if I am out performing feats for the love of a lady and wearing armor or something like that…." he grins at Rowan.

"I'm sort of trying to do what Miss- Babs, says. I'm not exactly the ideal candidate for that, though. I can't think of anyone less suited for press conferences and things like that. Maybe now that Zatanna is back from her tour she might concede being the PR. She deals with the public more often than I do."

Because the last time he was on live TV, her ended up cursing up a storm about Amanda Waller, and that had not gone well for the Titans.

***

"Do Champions here regularly court prospective mates like that?" It's an odd question but hey, Surfacers are odd. "Zatanna… I don't beleive I've heard that name." He shrugs. Ah well. "I shall try to do some investagting of my own as well, on your Psy-ne- er… Internet. Sorry. Old habits die hard but I really should learn to navigate it better." Perhaps Babs can assist with that.

***

Rowans question has Babs laughing slightly "No, well not anymore… it's a bit historical really and …" she sighs as she sips her tea "I'll show you some stuff, using the Internet." Babs tilts her head at the mention of the Stage Magician "Zatanna, Rowan, is a Magician. She does stage magic, you know or maybe you don't…" Babs frowns slightly "she quite literally pulls rabbits out of her top hat…"

***

"She also does real magic," Keith adds in, eyebrows rising with significance. "She's got the charm and the public image, so she'd be great for the Titans. Gar's got presence, too… at this point, anyone who is not me is a good choice. I'm too…" he snaps his fingers "Me."

***

Rowan aaaaaaahs. "And you offend this 'press'? I must confess the notion of earning a living by telling everyone what someone else is doing seems rather uncomfortable to me. I'm not sure I would enjoy being spied upon in that manner all the time yet I understand that your celebrities put up with it regularly." He pauses and looks to Babs. "Do champions as well?"

***

Babs considers Rowans question carefully before replying "Basically, yes." Nodding to Keith, she smiles a little "Keith here may have inadvertantly triggered something, but most, if not all, Heroes are placed under incredible scrutiny." Biting her bottom lip, she thinks before continuing "Remember the talk we had with my friend Tim, about how much harm should be dealt? Our media will take those incidences and blow them out of context. A lot of the time to make the Heroes bad." she blows out a long breath "Let's just say it's complicated."

***

Keith looks at Rowan during Barbara's commentary, and when she finishes he interjects, sipping his capuccino, "I'm sorry… I don't think we've actually been introduced outside of times where things are going crazy. But you sort of- well. You're not from around here, I take it?"

***

Rowan nods. "I'm from… from under the sea. Also, er, another Earth. A very different one. Babs knows the story." And Rowan's nod says she can tell it if she wants to. "But it is always nice to meet people when things are not going crazy."

Rowan thinks a bit. "This sounds unhelpful. Did the heros wrong them in some fashion?"

***

Babs blinks and drinks her tea as Keith and Rowan talk "Oh… I thought you two had met each other. Dimensional displacement, Keith. I think it's a bit of a sad story." Rowans question gets a flustered look "Um, no… it's about ratings. Getting more people to view or read what you're selling… our society, likes controvesy."

***

Rowan… what have you done? "Under the sea? They say it's better down where it's wetter, that's what you mean?" Oh dear. Yeah, the moment Rowan spoke those precise words, a little orchestra rang off in Keith's head and the music number began.

He has just returned from a four day Christmas Holiday with Gar over at the Land of the Mouse. This is normal- in fact, he has been having princess flashbacks all day long. In fact, during their relaxing time at the hotel pool, he broke into quite a rendition of "Kiss The Gar. (shalalalalala)"

"We have met… but it's been more of a field of battle meeting than anythig else. We meet, we fight, and then there isn't much time to trade crumpets and cookies when paperwork has to be filed."

***

Rowan thinks and then snaps his fingers at Keith. "Wait. I know that. That's a meme." He pronounces is Me-Me. Clearly someone has learned some of his terms without actually hearing them. "It was… different. Not better. Well maybe better here. My world was at war. I never knew anything else. Things were… rather awful everywhere unless you were willing to be a servant of the Overlords."

***

"Depends on how you view the media, I suppose" Babs murmurs into her teacup as she frowns at Keith. "Thank you very much for that earworm…." Sitting back, she's quite content to let Rowan and Keith talk, as she tops up each of their tea cups.

***

"Sorry. Just came back from Orlando, my boyfriend took me there on holiday." Keith says sheepishly. Green Arrow is right- he tends to over-share sometimes. "The house of Mouse has a more … jolly view of Atlanteans. They certainly didn't paint the king of Atlantis as the jackass he is." the redhead mutters, and then looks up from his capuccino to clarify: "Namor, I mean. He's a total ass. He kidnapped one of our members because he though she might be someone's girlfriend. Total creep."

Rowan gets another long glance when he describes his miseries… "Gee… I'm sorry you had to go through that. It sounds like a horrible place. Do you like it better here?"

***

"Ah. Namor isn't the ki-" Rowan stops and cants his head slightly. "Sorry. Er, he might be a king here. There's another king of a city called Atlantis named Arthur. Arthur Curry. He's half human, actually and aside from being… very aware of the gravity of his situation, he's a more or less decent person." His wife's scary but Mera seems to like Rowan and that makes things a little easier. "He's been around, I'm surprised you've not seen him."

***

Babs has, thankfully, had a meeting with Arthur recently and can possibly address this. "I don't get it fully Rowan, but Arthur is King of Atlantis here but he did say something about Namor and having problems with him." Oracle would know or be able to find out, but Babs… is likely to have access to that information. Looking between the two men, she smiles slightly "You didn't say if you like here better or not, Rowan…"

***

"So there are two Atlantises?" Keith asks. "Is this like our 'Springfield' up in the surface? I'm not surprised I haven't met this Curry fellow," he stirs his capuccino with a spoon while a smirk tugs at one side of his mouth. "I transform into a big purple cat, I'm practically useless in aquatic situations. As the saying goes- you can let two trouts fight it out inside a purse, but don't you ever think of wearing that purse to a formal occasion." He stops and muses this for a second.

"Come to think of it, I don't think it's an old saying. I may have heard it on a rerun of the Golden Girls."

***

That faint screaming sound you hear is that of a reference going way over Rowan's head. And into the next zip code. "Ah. Two trout in a purse sounds rather… slimy. Especially if you fill it with water. I've only ever heard of the one Atlantis but I do seem to recal hearing that Namor ruled a kingdom somewhere and it had been destroyed. I'm not sure what he rules now but clearly he does still rule something." He knows that the undersea man has made trouble in the past. How much Rowan isn't sure but Arthur isn't happy. Nor is Mera. Both of these are bad.

"Oh I like it well enough here. I'm settling in and I've met friends. And Babs. Babs has made this a whole lot easier. I still get the sense that I should miss… something, but my memory is so full of holes I often can't remember what."

***

Babs looks at Keith in a flabbergasted sort of way "Really? Someone Dimensionally Displaced and you mention trouts, purses and Golden Girls?" Rowans comments get a mixed look "That's very sweet of you to say, Rowan and you do seem to be filling in those holes, so maybe eventually they'll all return."

***

"Hey, what better way to introduce him to some of the hallmarks of our culture?" Keith says with a grin, and nods to Rowan. "Yeah, those holes are inconvenient. But I have found out that the best way to deal with holes is to fill them with as many friends as possible." He dips the biscotto into the capuccino and waits until it is soft enough to take a bite from it. "I wish I could convince Raven of that, but she absolutely refuses. I don't understand why, I think she'd be much happier that way."

***

"So…" Rowan takes a sip of his tea and considers. "You have your friends fill your holes?" Another long pause, considering and he looks at Babs. He's missing something here. "How does that work exactly?"

"You're trying to convince Raven to fill your holes? Or would you be filling hers?" He's confused.

***

Babs, Keith and Rowan are sitting in a coffee shop just round the corner from the Clocktower.

~ Why does that sound like the start of a joke? Oh…. Wait…. ~

Keith has just been explaining to the dimensional displaced Blue Warrior how he uses friends to fill holes.

The holes referenced, are those in the Dragon Warriors memory. However, the comment by Keith hasn't translated and Rowan seems a little confused as to how 'friends fill your holes'.

Babs looks at Keith, then to Rowan and then to her teacup. Shaking her head slightly, a small smile tugging at her lips, it obvious she is struggling for composure. Long moments pass as the redhead studies the swirl of the tea in the cup before she looks to Rowan "I think" she says slowly "He means that he is filling the loss of memory, with new ones." Babs looks a little non-plussed.

***

Keith clearly attempts a response to this when he realizes that his phrasing was not the best when in the presence of someone for whom some expressions were not known. Maneuvering out of this was like driving an old Volkswagen Beetle down a narrow alleyway only to find a truck barreling down towards you and a small troop of Red Hat Society ladies walking across in the opposite direction. It was going to require a fine three-point turn and a violation or two of the laws of physics.

In other words, there was no way in hell he would emerge from this unscathed. Nevertheless, he tries.

"No… I mean… the holes in your life. Metaphorical holes. Not physical holes. Those only get filled when y- I mean, when people- I don't…" a pause.

"SO! You've known Babs for a while, then?"

Abort, Abort, topic change, engage.

This is why he's not the spokesman, people. Pay attention.

***

The Sea Queen is accompanied by her surface-world translator, escort, and dogsbody, Simon Williams. His time in the water has resulted in several changes to his former somewhat selfish actor sort of lifestyle. For instance, he had to visit his mother, because Arthur (that would be the King of Atlantis, high-rent district) told him to do that thing. And it was pleasant enough that he repeated it for Christmas, taking her a small pearl from one of the more common deep-sea monsters, under the guidance of one of the Atlanteans — only about the size of a child's marble, and iridescent blue. It matches her hair.

***

Other changes. His surfacer clothing did not last. He has replaced it, with something similar from Atlantean style: blue jeans are replaced with a sharkskin colored a deeper blue, the leather boots with something that doesn't translate. The usual green polo is replaced with a green scaled, skin-tight shirt, and the jacket he usually wears with a tighter thing in red with metallic bands. Sunglasses are now goggles, because they tend to float off otherwise, and his hair is long enough to play that Thor pastiche again without the wig; also, it's white.

"Coffee. Mera, are you sure?" Simon isn't sure that this is truly a good idea.

***

It's not been very long at all since Arthur was rather seriously injured by some black-clad Surfacers who thought they could attack one of their ships. And, being the Queen, that means she's had to take on a lot of Arthur's usual responsibilities while he recuperated. But, her husband is enough better now that he's sent her off to 'calm down', taking his duties back and making it clear that her temper is starting to cause problems. Again.

Hence, Mera tracked down one individual who didn't seem put off or intimidated by her bad temper (Simon), and asked for a distraction. She suggested a Surfacer activity she'd heard mentioned: coffee. She doesn't really understand that, but is willing to give it a try despite Simon's uncertainty about it. "I am sure."

***

This odd conversation about filling holes, physical and otherwise just got an abrupt turn to something else. Despite this, Mera can likely hear it echoing in Rowan's mind simply because it's so very odd and out of his experience. Well, okay, if put in terms he understood it wouldn't be odd but Surfacer idioms are not his forte.

"Oh look. It's Mera and Simon Williams." The Blue waves to the Sea Queen and her escort, surprised to see them. "That woman is King Arthur's wife." He explains to Keith. Babs has met Mera already. On the beach. Making s'mores.

Try not to let your head explode.

"Babs? Oh I've known her, er… a few months. Seems like longer. We see each other fairly regularly." It's nice. He enjoys it.

***

Babs could well look like a fish out of water (pardon the pun) as Keith tries to explain. Just as Keith steers the conversation to less rockier shoals, in walks Queen Mera and a strange man.

"Simon Williams" Babs regains her composure and raises an eyebrow to the Blue Warrior. She hasn't heard the discussion between the two newcomers and throws a sunny smile in their direction. Testing their teapot, Babs smiles at Rowan "We're going to need more tea, by the looks of it. Would you mind?"

***

The redhead grows visibly tense. He doubts that he should be opening his mouth anywhere near royalty-

And as he turns around to see the aforementioned queen entering, he recognizes her from the night at the graveyard.

"Oh dear…" he mutters quietly to himself. And there was Simon Williams- wait, wasn't that an actor? He looks at the man accompanying Mera. Huh. He didn't look like the actor. That white hair, and what on earth was he wearing?

"Maybe I should go. Check back with the Titans and all." Avoid making a total embarrassment of yourself, you mean.

***

"As long as you're sure," Simon replies. "I'll order several kinds, so you can decide which you like best."

He talks to the barista, getting small tastings of the four different basic espresso varieties, as well as a few regular coffees. For himself, though, a very large latte. He even gets a special cup for it, more like a medium soup bowl. It's been far too long. OH, and biscotti. Croissants would be strange.

"Let's see if this still works," the white-haired young man says, pulling a smartphone from his pocket, and making with the 'portable credit card'. The barista says something vaguely audible as 'you have white hair?' and Simon grins. "I dye it for films. White hair came with the superpowers."

***

"I don't like … sweet," Mera tells Simon probably too late. At least, that's what Arthur mentioned all of dislikes seem to have in common. All of the different beverage names Simon bandies about confuse her slightly. She thought she'd said 'coffee'. While Simon pays for the beverages, she looks over at Rowan curiously, silently asking him what conversation was confusing him so badly.

And then her eyes drift over to the red-haired woman she remembers from that evening on the beach with the … marshmellows. More sweet things. She nods to the woman, then looks at the third person at the table. The face is unfamiliar, but the mind she has encountered before. She offers him a nod as well.

***

Rowan looks over at Keith. "Oh I don't think you need to go. You won't cause an incident or anything." If anything Mera's likely to kill him and let it go at that. But Keith'd have to really screw up for that to happen. Rowan rises and gives Mera a polite bow. She'd asked that he address her by her name rather than her title but he still offers her respect.

"Mera. Hello. Nice to see you. And you also Simon Williams. You remember Babs right? And this is Keith."

***

Babs puts her hand out and touches Keiths hand. "Stay, it will be ok, really." As Mera nods to her, she gives a bright smile, she really quite liked the atlantean women. "Who is Simon Williams, Rowan?"

Babs busies herself cleaning space at the table and nudging the Blue Warrior (none too gently this time) "Would you order more tea please?"

***

Keith can hide his apperance, but he definitely can't hide his mind. It's a strange mind- not unlike three souls time-sharing one mind, though not entirely separate identities either. For such a mixed-up structure, his thoughts are remarkably sane, though ill at ease at the sight of Mera.

Perhaps he detects Mera's ability to pry into his nogging? No, not likely. It most likely has to do with the fact that one third of his soul houses a Fae spirit who has a rather complicated history with royalty.

"Um, hello," Keith offers Mera as she looks at him. Not exactly a diplomatic greeting. He can't help but notice that there will now be three gingers at the table. That does not bode well.

***

"That's OK, we'll skip the mocha then. And I got the plain biscotti with almond, no chocolate," Simon tells the Sea Queen. "It won't be very sweet, just enough to offset the harsher flavors of some of the coffee varieties."

The four standard variants included a mocha, but Simon will happily drink that; the sweetest thing in Atlantis so far has been some kind of snail, and that's also bitter. He brings the tray to the table, and looks at the lacy-looking chairs. "Wrought iron, they should be strong enough," he tells Mera. Unless she tries to bend them.

***

When Rowan introduces Babs, he frowns and tries to recall meeting her. Must've been referring to Mera meeting her.

"Nobody, really," he says, wondering when red hair became the norm. "I'm just a guy who can pretend to breath underwater, so I got talked into being the representative of the surface world in Atlantis. So far I haven't made them hate us any more than they did. So far."

He talks like an actor, along with looking a bit like one.

"Hello, Keith. Are you related to Babs?" Because he looks a bit like the formerly bratty kid brother. A normal, ordinary, average surface dweller. That would be so … refreshing.

***

Mera nods to Simon and follows him back to the table where the others have been offering hellos. She offers Babs a return smile, and then starts openly staring at Keith, though it's clearly more of a curious stare than anything threatening. She's trying to place why his mind is familiar when his name and face are not. Though then Oracle's faint annoyance at Rowan comes through clearly and she turns to look ever so faintly displeased. "Barbara is requesting tea." And THAT sounds like an order, even as she turns to Babs again. "What is tea?"

***

Rowan takes the hint this time - hey, he was distracted - and gets up to go get a fresh pot of tea. Nice tea. Gen Mai Cha, in fact. Toasted Rice Tea which tastes more or less exactly what it sounds like. If you think it sounds like heaven brewed into a cup, that is. "It's flavored water, Mera. I'll bring some. Babs and I like it." The tea will be a moment but he's content to let them introdece themselves aside from adding. "Simon Williams is one of your Champions, Babs. And an actor."

***

Putting her hand out, Babs looks to Simon "Babara Gordon, but most people call me Babs." A small frown mars her brow "Why would Keith and I be related?" she hasn't connected the red hair.

Flushing slightly at Meras 'reading' of her, Babs looks between Rowan and Mera "Thank you Rowan… and yes Mera, please do try some."

***

And now he has a queen staring at him. Keith twitches ever so slightly- is he using the wrong fork? Wait, he's drinking coffee, he doesn't need a fork. Then, why on earth is this woman staring at him?

~Oh my god, what if you have something on your face that you haven't noticed?~
~~Did you forget to wipe your mouth? I bet you've got capuccino lips~~
++A cat may look at a King, but nowhere does it say that a Queen must look at a cat.++

The multi-threaded thought process is something to which Keith is now accustomed to such a point that he barely notices it consciously. With a deft move of his right hand, he collects the napkin and does a few tactical passes at his lips to make sure that he is not sporting a capuccino moustache or something of the sort. He is so intent on doing this that he misses Simon's question as to whether or not he and Babs are siblings. Of course, he knows who Williams is- after all, he knows one other hero who is a working actor (Booster), and of course his boyfriend.

"Coffee is also flavored water," Simon mentions. "But we also add cow's milk, which is steamed into a foam. The foam is layered on top. Besides being a stimulant, it's a social ritual to drink it together and talk, or relax together." Simon says this out loud, because he's yet to finish putting his brain in order enough to make telepathy work gracefully. He tries, though.

***

Mera nods slightly to Rowan, then goes back to staring at Keith, mostly because of the VERY odd way his thoughts travel. It's like listening to a multiple person conversation all in one mind. Tilting her head slightly, she sits and leans toward the young man, as if preparing to delve more deply into his mind. Well, to anyone who is unaware of her telepathy, it probably looks more like she's initiating a rather intense staring contest.

***

Which she will win, Rowan has no doubt. Rowan returns with a larger kettle of hot water and a selection of tea to brew. But he highly suggests the Gen Mai Cha. "They're not related. Er. At least, I don't think so." Rowan supplies. Glancing over at Keith curiously. Sure, he's interesting but why is she staring?

Well she hasn't hurt him so he's probably okay. Rowan pours a cup for Babs and passes it to her, then gets one for Keith, Mera, Simon and finally himself.

***

"Thankyouverymuch" Keith says when his cup is poured. Why WAS she staring at him?

~Oh god, why is she staring at me? This is creepier than that fanboy who asked me to play with his ball of yarn~
~~It was very nice yarn. It was purple, I remember-~~
++Silence.++

When the Cait speaks, Keith tenses up. Did it notice something? Hard to tell, but all Keith knew was that he had to find a convenient exit right away, because the woman's stare was like a scalpel.

Were Keith in his actual feline form, the outcome of a staring contest might be debatable- after all, the Cheshire has been known to out-stare mirrors. But plain old Keith O'Neil? Not a chance.

It is at this particular point that something vibrates in Keith's leg, and the offending phone is produced eagerly.

His lips move quietly looking at the text window. Aha. Escape.

"I'm so so sorry but I'm afraid I have to leave. Titan business."

It wasn't actually an emergency, it was an email requesting a call back concerning a public locale for the Titans. Something that could easily be taken care of later. Except that Mera won't be staring a hole into his nogging later, so now it is. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Williams, Rowan. Your, um, Queen. Ness." He says this to Mera while establishing only the absolute minimal amount of eye contact required. "Good to see you again Babs. We'll stay in touch!"

And with that, the red-headed blur is out of the cafe, his tea untouched.

***

Of course she'd win a staring contest. It would be far easier to count how many undersea beings CAN blink than the ones who can't. Of course, we'll never find out now, as Vorpal panics and flees with the excuse of whatever was on that device. She heard it in his mind. Escape. But, seeing as he's reacting with a fear response, she sits back in her chair and doesn't impede his retreat. And THEN she looks at the others questioningly before looking at the almoset dizzying array of beverages Simon piled onto the table alongside the tea that Rowan just poured.

"Which one should I try first?" At least she won't be at risk of dehydration.

***

Mera is staring at Keith. Keith looks uncomfortable… and then Keith… just leaves. Babs looks… just plain lost…

Blowing out a breath she takes the cup Rowan offers and looks to the newcomer "Hi" she says faintly "I'm Babs and I believe you are Simon Williams. How do you prefer to be addressed?"

***

"Simon is fine," the actor says with a wry smile. "I also get called Wonder Man on herowatch.com. Which has nothing to do with that modeling gig where I wore the star spangled speedo and played with a gold lasso."

That image planted, he suggests by pointing at random to a simple espresso. "This is the undilute essence of coffee."

***

Rowan leaves the cup of tea for the two newly arrived underwater travellers to sample and leans back with a smile. He has no idea who Wonder Woman is so the image of the man playing with a rope while in a spangly Namor getup doesn't partcularly jar him like it might others. "Surfacers drink it to stay awake. Or to just enjoy it. I think it was invented popularized by religious primates?" Monks, not monkeys. He does miss these things sometimes.

***

Mera picks up the espresso cup, but then looks at Rowan questioningly. "I thought Surfacers WERE primates." She then proceeds to take a big, hefty gulp of the still steaming beverage, not at all concerned that it's likely hot enough to scald the average surface dweller's mouth. "Hm. Far more agreeable than… cola?" That overly sweet and fizzy concoction was positively VILE.

***

~ Oh Good Heavens! Sculling hot coffee~

Meras actions and then comments about cola has Babs frowning slightly, "Monks" she corrects Rowan absently… and then "Queen Mera, that's not how… or whatever." Babs is not familiar with Mera's physiology

***

"If Atlantis was actually a surface land like the legends say," Simon says after a sip of his own coffee, "then most Atlanteans are also primates, and that's supported by your husband being a hybrid of the two races."

He offers a Biscotti to Mera. "These are good soaked in coffee too."

And by the time they get done with the tasting, Mera may be mellow, but she may also have imbibed enough caffeine to affect even her constitution. Perhaps… it would be good to stay on the surface for a bit.